Safeguarding Solicitor

Safeguarding Solicitor – National Legal Team

Salary - Grade 6 - £42,066 per annum

Closing date: Tuesday 23rd April 2024 at 11.30 pm

Fixed term until end of March 2025

Flexible location - can be based in any of Shelter's 11 hubs in England or home based.

Are you a Solicitor with housing law knowledge and experience of safeguarding? If so then consider a move to Shelter you could soon be making a real difference to people affected by the housing emergency. 

About Shelter

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination, and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change, with individuals, in communities, across society, and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

At Shelter we are united by our purpose to defend the right to a safe home. Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. We believe that to win that fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement for change. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, fair, equitable and transparent.

We have committed to combat racism both within and outside Shelter and welcome you on our journey to becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

About The Team

Shelter’s Legal Team provide legal expertise and representation across our Services. You will be part of our National Legal Team and will work closely with our Telephone and Online Advice Service (TOAS) to identify trends in issues experienced by people using the service.  

About the role

Your role will be to work within the National Legal Team to support the TOAS team to recognise vulnerable clients who need urgent legal help, at the sharpest end of the housing crisis, struggling to advocate for themselves in appalling housing conditions or stuck in temporary accommodation.

Your role will be to provide legal early intervention to clients and families who have safeguarding concerns.

You will act on a consultancy basis for TOAS and provide advice and legal representation on behalf of the client and/or their family, authorising and arranging temporary accommodation and any associated hardship claims. Should a safeguarding referral be made, you will follow up on those referrals to ensure that the appropriate outcome is achieved.

You will also be supported to work with relevant stakeholders to address systemic matters that contribute to homelessness and advocate for systematic change to break the cycle for other vulnerable clients and their families.

About You

Qualified as a Solicitor, you will have a strong knowledge of housing law and be used to managing your caseload including time recording. You will need to meet the Housing/Debt Supervisor standard and have demonstrable experience in litigation and court advocacy, carry out file reviews and be proactive about your professional development and continuous improvement.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme. 

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

Home is everything. We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Join us in ending the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and our communities.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Recruitment Agencies

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.